Chapter 81
“Works for me.”
“Good, can I have a Napoleon now?”
“Only if you’ll share it—that’s a ton of calories.”
“God, you drive a hard bargain.”
“That’s me,” I said, “Mr. Tough Negotiator.”
Dessert out of the way, we returned to the car and headed back toward Maggie Valley, but instead of turning off onto Fie Top Road, which led to the cabin, we drove a mile further and turned onto a different side road. We followed it through Soco Valley and up the mountain until the asphalt surface changed to gravel. “Let’s open the windows,” Nate said, “so we can listen for the sound of a stream.”
“Okay,” I said, and since I was driving, I ran both the driver and passenger windows down.
“Slow down,” he said. “The crunch of the tires on gravel is so loud that I can’t hear anything else.”
“Why don’t we pull over and walk? That is, if I can find a safe spot to do that.”
“Yeah, that looks like a good spot up ahead.”